The Transition
A Novel
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“The sort of book that cuts you off from your family and has you walking blindly through seven lanes of traffic with your face pressed obliviously to the page.” —James Marriott, The Times (London)
Do you or your partner spend more than you earn? Have your credit card debts evolved into collection letters? Has either of you received a court summons? Has either of you considered turning to a life of a crime? You are not alone. We know. We can help.
Welcome to the Transition.
While taking part in the Transition, you and your partner will spend six months living under the supervision of your mentors, two successful adults of a slightly older generation. Freed from your financial responsibilities, you will be coached through the key areas of the scheme—Employment, Nutrition, Responsibility, Relationship, Finances, and Self-respect—until you are ready to be reintegrated into adult society.
At the end of your six months, who knows what discoveries you’ll have made about yourself? The “friends” you no longer need. The talents you’ll have found time to nurture. The business you might have kick-started. Who knows where you’ll be?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poet Kennard's sharp, witty debut novel is about a generation who can't seem to launch themselves into adulthood. In the near future, Karl, a debt-ridden 30-something, keeps afloat by using his useless English degree in morally dubious ways, writing fake five-star consumer reviews and "bespoke" essays for college students. When one of his writing gigs lands him in legal trouble, he is faced with a choice: serve a prison sentence or enroll, along with his blameless wife, Genevieve, into "The Transition," a rehabilitation program aimed at rescuing "a generation suffering from an unholy trinity of cynicism, ignorance and apathy." Opting for the latter, Karl and Genevieve must move in with Transition mentors, Stu and Janna, who counsel the younger couple on everything from financial responsibility and new career paths to personal hygiene and reading habits: "We want you both to read a newspaper.... A part of you still feels that newspapers are for grown-ups and that you're not grown-ups." While Genevieve excels under Stu and Janna's guidance, the hapless Karl chafes against the cultlike aspects of the Transition and, after a series of often amusing transgressions, humiliations, and punishments, seeks to expose it as a less-than-benevolent self-help program. Enlivened by crisp dialogue and Wildean epigrams ("That's the problem with self-respect...you start to feel offended when someone insults you"), the novel splendidly hums along. Kennard calibrates satire and sentiment, puncturing glib diagnoses of a generation's shortcomings while producing a nuanced portrait of a marriage as precarious as Karl's finances.
